Home/Why don't you say more about the non-Jewish deaths caused by Zionism?

Why don't you say more about the non-Jewish deaths caused by Zionism?

11/05/06

Dear Jews Against Zionism,

When I first saw your site, I thought it was great to see that there were Jews who were against Israel and the horrible crimes that it has commited to not only the people of Palestine, but to people all over the world.

As I read more information on your website, I have to come to the conclusion that yes, you group is against Zionism, but ONLY because according to you it is against the true teachings of Jewry. I must be honest in the sense that I can not agree with this. You fail to mention the amount of NON-JEWISH deaths caused by Zionists and Zionism. The hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, Lebanese, Egyptions, Americans (Rachel Corrie), even people of Europe who were killed because of Zionists. Please do not mistake this email as a hate email, because in my eye there is no difference between a Jewish and a non-Jewish death. They are both just as horrible. But what I see is the failure to acknowledge the deaths of thousands of innocent Palestians. You also fail to mention what the Zionists have done to the religion of Islam. They have made it to be a religion of evil. Many people think that Islam is a violent religion because of Zionists. This cannot be more wrong.

Prior to the creation of Israel, many Jews lived in Palestine peacefuly with their Muslim and Christian neighbors. Yes there were violent skermishes between IMMIGRANT Jews and Palestinians(Both Muslims and Christians) before Israel but that was due to the fact that many of those Jews who were their were brought to Palestine from other countries with the intent of creating a Zionist "Jewish" State.

Both Jews and Christians alike are in Islam considered "People of the Book". "Book" refers to the Holy Koran. It is considered against Islam to kill anybody based on their religious beliefs or ethnicity.

I would like to reiterate one last thing because of its importance. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is NOT Jews against Muslims! The hatred is not religious but rather political. In that I mean it is not because of religious beliefs but rather land, occupation, and treatment of Palestinians. Zionists would like you to believe that it is a religious war because it portrays Muslims negitively.

Although I find your site very informative and your cause just, I still cannot help to believe that your group does not care about the deaths of Palestinians and their expulsion from their HOMES. PLEASE RESPOND AND PROVE ME WRONG. I would greatly appreciate it.

One last thing I would like to mention is this. I am a Muslim and I know a little bit about Jewish beliefs. I would like to say that we are closer then many will admit. I deeply respect you for what you are doing. Please keep it up and if you need any help at all, do not hesitate to send me an email.

And if you will, please be kind and post this on your website in order to educate others regarding these issues.

Thank you.
Peace.
Shaloom.
Salam alaikum.

Please make no mistake: we too are angered and horrified at the great numbers of non-Jews who have been killed due to Zionism. The Zionists from the beginning were militants and terrorists. They terrorized the British until they left Palestine. The threat they posed to the Palestinian Arabs is what aroused them to action. The Palestians never bothered the Jews before the age of Zionism. Even as late as the 1920's, the Jewish yeshiva students in Hebron testified that they could walk anywhere at any time of the day or night and they were on very friendly terms with the local Arabs. It was only in 1929, after the militant Zionists declared that the Western Wall in Jerusalem belonged to them, that the Arabs were aroused to violence.

Rabbi Yosef Chaim Zonenfeld wrote in the early 1930's that Jews could settle Palestine but they should do it on peaceful terms with the Palestinians. Zionists at that time were making a point of not buying from Arab merchants and not hiring their workers, and Rabbi Zonenfeld spoke out against this. I think we have his letter on our website. In 1924 Rabbi Zonenfeld met with King Hussein of Saudi Arabia and his son Emir Abdullah of Jordan. Unfortunately, Rabbi Zonenfeld and his followers were a minority, and the Zionists proceeded to develop the land without concern for its prior inhabitants.

The longer the Zionist state existed, the more non-Jews suffered as a result. The true Jews are terribly ashamed of the Israeli atrocities in the 1948 war, the expulsions and killings, massacres of the 1950s, in the Lebanon violence of the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating with the massacres of Palestinians in Lebanon encouraged by Israel in 1983. And the bombing of Lebanon this year has further tarnished the reputation of Jews as peaceful and moral people.

The Zionist state has brought nothing but conflict and violence to the Middle East. America, because of its pro-Israel stance and major aid, has always been a part of the conflict, but now after September 11 2001 it is completely involved. The whole world is in danger because of Zionism, and this is no exaggeration.

And yes, you are right that pro-Zionist propaganda is responsible for making Islam look like a violent religion in people's eyes. We do not share that view.

Let me address your question about why we don't emphasize on the website our concern about the expulsion and killing of Palestinians. Zionism is a broad subject and there are many, many reasons we are against it. However we must distinguish between primary reasons and secondary reasons. Secondary in this context does not mean less important; it means that it does not go to the core of the issue. For example, the Zionist state is secular. Its leaders don't keep the Sabbath, they eat non-kosher food, many don't believe in G-d, and in their school system the children are trained to be immoral and deny the Torah. These are all terrible things from the viewpoint of religious Jewry, but they are considered secondary reasons, because even if they were all to change - all the people of the state of Israel would begin keeping the Torah - the core issue of Zionism would remain. The core issue, of course, is that Jews may not seek political independence during their exile. They must wait for G-d to send the messiah.

If we were to stress the terrible crimes against humanity committed by the Zionists, it would give the impression that we were merely peace activists. It would sound as if the state of Israel would be okay, if only they would treat the Palestinians nicely. They could give them back some land and then, if all the Palestinians and Muslim nations would accept the existence of Israel, it would be okay. But this is not true at all - the Torah forbids us to have any state, no matter whether the world approves of it or not. This is an issue of what the Jewish belief system is, not just an issue of how the Israelis happen to behave. In order to underscore that, we don't emphasize the Israelis' atrocities. Our main goal is to reach Jews and teach them what true Judaism says.

We believe that our way is actually the most effective way to stop Zionism. If we were to publicize the crimes of the Zionist against the world, Zionist Jews would just argue back that it's not true, or the Israelis were justified, or the Arabs deserve it, or other such silliness. I'm sure you know what goes on in the media and the talk shows when they discuss whether the Americans are acting morally in Iraq and so on. It's an endless discussion of give and take over facts and judgment of people. It leads nowhere. Instead, we come and pull the rug out from under the whole thing. We prove to people that Judaism does not allow any state, no matter what. The Zionists can't argue with that, because we have the Torah on our side. And our arguments are non-offensive to them, because they are based not on accusing people of crimes, but on honest evaluation of Torah and Talmudic texts.

Furthermore, speaking about this subject would actually undermine our powerful influence. As you know, whenever individuals or groups stick up for the suffering Palestinians, the Zionist propagandists label them "anti-Semites" or "self-hating Jews".

Besides, when it comes to Israeli war crimes and human rights violations there are already powerful worldwide organizations active in the field, and we don't have much to add to their work. But our organization exists for a purpose that no other organization fulfills: to pull the mask off the Zionist leaders, who want everyone to think that their state and wars are part of Judaism, and show that actually their state is the greatest violation of the Jewish Torah and religion.

I hope this answers your questions, and thank you for your interest. May we see world peace in our time.